Elizabeth's New Job

Yesterday Darin came home from work and informed Elizabeth that the new Hobby Lobby had a sign up saying they were NOW HIRING. So, they immediately jumped in his car and went over there. A little about Hobby Lobby... It's only my FAVORITE store and it is now going to be the closest store to our home! Yea!!! Well, an hour later Elizabeth walks in the door with a huge grin on her face announcing that they had hired her! She was interviewed and had to take a quick math test and they hired her! YEA!! She is sooo excited! She will start next Monday. She could have started this weekend but we had just signed her up for a weekend Choir camp at the University of Houston and had paid for it so she gets to wait till Monday. She was also told that they will be closed on Sundays. The manager doesn't like to work on Sundays either! What a great blessing! I think it will be great!

(Not just for me, for her too! :) )

HOBBY LOBBY

Senior Picture Photo Shoot

Saturday I had the privilege of going with Elizabeth to take her Senior pictures. I was able to snap a few pictures with her phone camera while they were taking pictures of her. She looked so beautiful! It was one of those moments that time stops for a few seconds and you just want to curl into a ball and cry! So many thoughts were going through my head as I observed all that was happening. First, um.. I felt like saying "excuse me, that much shoulder doesn't need to be seen!". (I did readjust the top after the one lady had put it on! No one noticed and it wasn't changed! :) ) Second, where have all the years gone?! It seems not long ago that she was in elementary school and now... WOW! Time flies. Last week our Bishop gave a talk in church and talked about enjoy each moment and not always looking towards tomorrow. I know I haven't always done the greatest at this, but I really have enjoyed each of my children every step of the way. I feel it an honor to be their Mom. I'm definitely not that great of a mom and being blessed with such incredible children is definitely a blessing.

While we were at the studio one of the men asked me if I was ready for her to leave and hed off to college. I said No, I don't look forward to that day. He seemed surprised and said that she must be a good girl then. Yes, she is a very good girl. How lucky we are to have a daughter who is good, who is indepentant and strong willed, but so good. She knows who she is and makes good choices in her life. She is smart and fun and so beautiful.
When they put the cap and gown on I think that is when it really got to me. I know I still have this last year with her at home, but time is just going too quickly! I'm so excited and happy for her and this time of life for her. She is absolutely loving being a senior and is really looking forward to this last year of high school.
(Sorry the pictures aren't that great! It was actually kind of dark in the room and I was trying to take the pictures without them really noticeing me!)

Mom's Homework and 1st Day of School updates

Each year it is the same thing and each year it seems to get worse and worse. The first day of school each of my children walk in the door and hand me a HUGE envelope with homework to be completed by me. Trent loved letting me know that the only homework he had last night was making sure I completed mine. UGH!! You would think they could get their act together better and only make us do "one" paper per family and just let all the children sign their name on it. But NO! 4 children, 4 papers exactly the same over and over and over again!! It's not quite as bad for the elementary ones, but the high school ones... now that's another story! Each class wants the parents to read and sign each class syllabus for their class. I actually had to stop last night for a little while because I started getting loopy and misspelling my own name! Then it was time to pull out the checkbook. Two PTA's wanting my money, Athletic fee's, directory fee, SOS fee, (Spartans out Serving) basketball shoe order money, (they require everyone on the team to have the same shoes) Elizabeth's choir fee's, Trent's 5th grade choir fee's, time trackers, etc. etc.... It just keeps going on and on!!

This picture doesn't do justice to how bad it is! A few of the papers are actually stapled pamphlets.

While I was busy working on the paperwork, Elizabeth and Eyn were busy putting together their supplies for each of their classes. They came home with their lists of what supplies they had to have for each individual class. Luckily, I had stocked up on tons of supplies I knew they would end up needing. We get a list before school starts, but each teacher always wants their individual items. We went to the store last night to try and pick up a few things we hadn't gotten and it was crazy in there! We ended up walking out with nothing I planned on getting. I need to go attempt a different store today to pick up a few things. Elizabeth and Eyn both had homework last night and of course Elizabeth was up too late working on it. She came in and asked me for help with some of her English homework and I had never even heard of it before! That's not a good sign!
Just a quick first day of school update:

Amberly: She "had to" ride the bus home from school. She has watched her siblings ride the bus her entire life and couldn't wait to do it. So, we're letting her for now. She came off the bus and declared that she had had the BEST day of her life! She absolutely loved school and had made 2 new friends. She loved absolutely everything about it and loves her teacher! I am so happy for her! I just want that feeling to continue! She came and woke me up this morning wondering ready to get up and get going! Now if only we can keep that feeling for the next 12 years!

Trent's first day: He thought it was great! He really likes his teacher and thinks she will be super. (So do I!) They didn't change classes yesterday so hopefully he'll like all the other teachers today. He will have all 5 of the 5th grade teaches plus PE, Art, and music teachers as well. He absolutely loved riding his bike to school. He got home really fast!

Eyn: He said high school was okay. He didn't like that the bus was so crowded, but that should thin out once all the extra curricular activities get going. He seemed to like his classes okay and was excited for basketball. The doctor has put him at 100% as of yesterday so he can play again. They start today so we'll see how it goes. He has an extremely early lunch and hated that. He said he wasn't hungry. Seminary starts today so that will add another hour before he eats lunch so hopefully he will be hungrier then.

Elizabeth said school was okay. She said being a senior is great. She said the teachers aren't as strict with them and don't treat them like babies and she loves that. She is still trying to figure out if she wants to keep her schedule the same or not so that has been stressful. She just wants to enjoy her year. She loved lunch again because they have a big group of kids from church that all sit together and that's great for them. She's looking forward to Friday night because the seniors in our ward are going to start getting together and having their own parties. It was initiated by one of the parents in our ward and I think it's great!

Great first day all around I must say!

New Glasses for Trent

We were finally able to pick up Trent's new glasses last night. We had ordered them so he would have them for the first day of school, but one of the lens came in wrong so they had to reorder them. So, he spent the first day of school "trying" to make it look like he wasn't struggling to see the board. He was amazed at how clear everything looked when he put them on.

Doesn't he look cute!Trent and Katy have always had a special friendship. She actually doesn't like to be held but she puts up with it better with him than anyone else. She sleeps at the end of his bed the majority of the time.

Back to School Blues

School is finally back in session. I don't know whether to shout for joy or cry my eyes out!! It's definitely going to be an interesting year for our family. Our oldest daughter Elizabeth is a senior this year and our youngest daughter is in Kindergarten. A new beginning for one and the ending for the other. But what's also unique is that Eyn is beginning High School this year as a freshman and Trent is ending elementary school with 5th grade. Definitely a unique year!!

I can't say that everyone was excited to start school again, but I think everyone kind of felt like it was time. I always enjoy aspects of starting a new school year. It's always great to get back into a normal routine, set new goals, and start fresh and new.

Elizabeth all ready for her Senior year! Her schedule shouldn't be that bad this year so "HOPEFULLY" she will get more sleep than she did last year!!
Eyn packed up and heading to the bus. Eyn seems to be excited to "Finally" be in High School. He got a new cell phone this weekend so he's really ready!
Trent and Amberly on their way to school. We have a new elementary school that is only .35 miles from our home so Trent is excited to be able to ride his bike to school. (So am I!!) It will be nice having the school so close to our home and not having to fight any traffic to get there.

I can't believe my baby is in Kindergarten! She is more than ready to go and will do a great job! It's all day kindergarten here so I know she will definitely come home tired.
Trent and Amberly in front of the new school.
Amberly outside of her classroom. She was quiet, but was excited.

Amberly and her new teacher Ms. Lyundahl. (I think that's how you spell it. You pronounce it young doll.) She is incredibly sweet and I think Amberly will just love her!
Amberly and her Daddy. Darin went to work late today so he could see everyone off on their first day of school.

Amberly quickly made a new friend. I'm sure she will love kindergarten!

I've had many people ask me how it feels to have my baby going to school now. I really have a hard time answering that. I'm sad because I loved my time with Amberly when she was home with me. But, I'm happy for her because I know how much fun she is going to have. She has missed having her best friend Katie to play with and with be so happy making some new friends. Amberly loves to learn new things and make new things so I know how great this will be for her. I'm sad because with her gone to school it's like I'm stepping into a new phase of my life that I actually haven't looked forward to. But, I am excited for me too. I hope to be able to do many things that I have wanted to do which I haven't been able to do. I'm also excited because I plan on volunteering more in the schools. I hope to go to the temple more often also. It will be hard to adjust being alone all day, but it will be good. :) Darin and I have also been talking a lot about it being Elizabeth's "Last" year in high school. It seems like there are too many "Lasts" this year. When I think about her leaving to go to college next year that's when I really get chocked up. It's just hard to imagine life without her here all the time. We just keep telling ourselves to enjoy every minute of this year and we hope to make it a great year!

New BBQ Grill!

All summer Darin and I have talked about getting a new BBQ Grill. Our old was well used and ready to be disposed of. Elizabeth and I came home from shopping Saturday with a big box in the back of the van. I was so excited! Darin, Eyn and Trent were great working together to put it together for us. I love it! I forgot to get a picture of them with it finished, I'll add that later. We cooked out on it yesterday and it was great!! We hope to have Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Sharon over next weekend for a good BBQ.
While D, E, and T were busy putting together the grill Elizabeth attempted to sort through the piles of school supplies we have had to buy. I can't believe how much money it costs for supplies!!

Idaho/Utah Vacation Summer 2008

It's time to catch up on what's been happening with our family the past month.

We were able to take an incredible trip to Idaho/Utah during July. I cried on the way home because I didn't want it to end! I loved everything about our trip. I miss my family up there so much and being able to spend time with some of them was fantastic.

We began our trip on July 17th. We ended up leaving late in the afternoon (Darin had to work 1/2 a day) so "Darin" decided to drive all night. It was exhausting but we were so glad he did because we were able to spend more time in Colorado. We decided to stop at "Seven Falls" in the Colorado Springs area. What an incredibly beautiful place! The temperature was perfect and the views were beautiful. The picture at the top of the blog is from Seven Falls. We rode an elevator in a mountain to the top to have beautiful views of the falls. Then we went back down (Eyn and Trent walked the stairs down) by elevator and everyone except me (there was no way I could do it due to my recent surgery) walked the long, extremely steep stairway to the top of the falls. If you look at this picture closely you can see them climbing the stairs.

This picture shows an exhausted and sore Darin. It was a long stairway!

Once on top, they hiked even further to explore and see what they could find.

I love these pictures they took!

I can honestly say that my children are not afraid of heights and are quite courageous when it comes to climbing! They loved it!!

From Seven Falls we continued to travel straight up through Colorado. It was absolutely beautiful! We loved the Colorado mountains! While in Denver we made a slight deteour and went to see the Denver LDS Temple. It was gorgeous!!

The next day we traveled across Wyoming. This next picture is of Amberly at one of the rest areas we stopped at. It was incredibly windy there! She was fighting the wind trying to stay on the rock!

You can tell how windy it is by looking at her hair.

Trent had to get in on the picture taking too! He's so photogenic!

We arrived in Blackfoot Idaho late that night and stayed with my Mom's Cousin Lois and her family. What a wonderful time we had visiting with them! I feel bad that we didn't go and visit more family while we were there. When we were there it just felt so good to be able to relax.

On Monday we got up and traveled over to Jackson Hole, up through the Teton Mountains and into Yellowstone National Park. What an incredible journey! Our family in Idaho had told us this was the route we should travel and were they ever right!!

We stopped at this lookout point after traveling through the steepest mountains! Our brakes were really hot after we were up there!

At this lookout they had a few trails that went high up the side of the mountain. So, off my hikers went again!! I waited and made friends with a cute little chimpmunk and enjoyed the beautiful wildflowers.

After nearly an hour of waiting for them to come back they arrived out of breath and thirsty. Darin was shaking his head and couldn't believe that he had actually let them hike up there. He said it was extremely steep and dangerous, but our children didn't even flinch. They just wanted to keep going.
We then proceeded to travel through the Teton National Park. The mountains were absolutly beautiful!

We then arrived in Yellowstone. It was getting late in the afternoon so we decided to go to Old Faithful. We made several stops along the way to view the breathtaking views. Words can not decribe how beautiful it was!

At Old Faithful we arrived right after it had errupted so we had a long wait. While we were waiting it began to drizzle and of course we were not all prepared for the weather so we were slightly chilly. (Darin had his jacket, he was the lucky one!) As you can tell by the picture we were slightly damp but we can now say we've seen Old Faithful do her thing!!

The next day we got up early and spent part of the day enjoying the park. We were able to see a few beautiful mooses and some bison. We loved walking down to the edge of the Huge waterfall and being able to be close to it. Our quick trip to yellowstone was just that, quick. We would of enjoyed spending more time there.

We left Yellowstone and traveled to Rexburg Idaho to do a tour of BYU Idaho for Elizabeth. We really enjoyed the tour of the campus and loved the feeling of the campus there. The temple was absolutely beautiful. When you drive into the Rexburg area you instantly see the temple high above the city.
After leaving Rexburg we made a quick stop in Idaho Falls to see the temple there and to feed the ducks. I love the peacefulness we felt there. The ducks were very friendly and we all enjoyed feeding them.
After enjoying another fun evening in Blackfoot with family, we traveled to Salt Lake City. We were able to stay with another one of my Mom's cousin Geri and her family. It was great to be able to see them! We got up early the morning of the 24th to go and watch the Pioneer Day Parade. It was hot and long but we enjoyed all the colorful floats and "Loud" policeman on motorcycles.

It was wonderful to see President Monson as the Grand Marshall of the parade.

After the parade we "had to" go and see the High School used in High School Musical. This was one of Amberly's top requests for our entire vacation! We went back later that evening and were able to see inside the back windows into the cafeteria. It looked just like in the Movie!
The next day we did Temple Square. I love to be on temple square. It's like paradise in the dark and dreary world! This picture is of Trent from the observation deck in the Church office building. I think one of my favorite days was spending Sunday with my brother Tom and his family in Provo. We had such a fun day! They don't live far from the river and Utah Lake so everyone walked over there. The little kids were being good and just put there feet into the water until Uncle Tom dared Elizabeth to do it too. Of course she did and before we knew it they were all drenched! Especially Amberly! Her poor pants didn't want to stay up they were so wet!

We took some fun family pictures. We haven't all been together in over 6 years and that was before Amberly and little Josie were born.

Cousins photo

Josie was so cute! She wanted to sit on her own rock. She was not happy when Hayden got to hold her for a picture. Cute little Josie!
Tom, Hayden and Josie
We had such a fun day! When I figure out how to add a vidio I'll have to add our "Rockstar" jam session. I definetly saw a different side of my brother and husband!! It was so much fun!!

The next day we were able to tour the BYU campus. A huge Thank you to Uncle Tom and Aunt Louise for inviting Eyn, Trent, and Amberly to their house while we spent time on campus. It was fun for me to go back and see the campus up close. It's been a long time since I was a student there! We had a great time there and it was nice to be able to spend that time with Elizabeth talking about college and the Pro's and Con's of where to attend. We ate lunch at the BYU Creamery and enjoyed the yummy ice cream there!
BYUOur last BIG day in Utah was spent at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon. What an amazing day we had! We bought day passes so we could do all the activities there all day long as much as we liked. Everyone loved it!
This picture was taken at the top of the mountain after we had just taken a tram up it. (I did not like the Tram! Don't ask me why, I just didn't enjoy it!)

This picure was taken on the Peruvian Chair lift. Darin and I were on the next chair behind them taking the picture. I loved this ride! It was a long way up to the top, but it was so enjoyable! The few bumps along the way up were a tad scary, but so relaxing and beautiful!!

At the top we were able to play in the snow! It was cold, but so much fun! As you can tell I think Eyn enjoyed it a little too much! (Elizabeth was his target on the other side of him and I'm quite sure he hit the bullseye many times!)

Here's Super Dad and Amberly on the Alpine slide!

Here comes Amberly and Eyn!

Elizabeth and Eyn on the Ziprider

Elizabeth and Eyn again on the ziprider

Trent on the chair lift heading up to the Alpine Slide

Our day at Snowbird was wonderful! It was a great way to end our trip.

The next day we left Salt Lake City and headed home. I for one was not looking forward to the drive! We "had to" stop in the Moab area and have another hike. Up the side of the mountain they went to this arch. Elizabeth even stepped on a snake on the journey! It was a steep climb, but they all made it!

After we arrived back in Texas we saw this great place by the side of the road. It's called "Cadillac Ranch". I had heard of it before but didn't know where it was at. You can learn more about it at the following link: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220 We were lucky because a family leaving had some extra spray paint so they gave it to us. It was a fun quick stop!

Well, that's the end of our incredible summer vacation. None of us wanted to see it end. We are so glad we were able to go and enjoy our time away from home.

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